I took some pics of my work today, the first complete panel with my new Lindsay palm control.
First we saw the sheep from .010" 24 k.
Then we cut a shallow line around the area to be Damascened, and make sure the sheep fits.
The the edge is under punched with a flat, just like an old school inlay.
Next the background is scored with sachet'd flatback.
In two or more directions.
The gold is installed, and punched down at the extremities first.
Then it is peened.
And burnished till flat, and blended with steel wool.
The borders are cut.
Then the scroll.
And then carved, punched and bulino'd the details.

Those are great shots Barry. I've always been drawn to your scroll style, so clean and classic looking and perfectly executed as always.

I especially like the shot with the chip curl at the end of the border. A few questions though. Is that done with the tungsten piston? What's the finger cot for? What is meant by Damascening?

I've heard this term in the watchmaking field referring to the treatment of the movement plates with designs embossed, pressed, or sometimes hand engraved upon them often to hide machine tools marks and to dress them up a bit. This is a very interesting overlay overview.

__________________
"If one needs a tool, and does not acquire it, they end up paying for it, but not having it." - Henry Ford

Thanks Tim and Steve,
The finger cot is to keep calluses from forming. I have been using the tungsten piston for this work.
Damascening is an old term for overlay. It comes from the fact that most of this type of work at one time came from Damascus. The city was, as many knife making history buffs can attest, one of the centers of metalworking innovation. Damascus , of course had a highly developed weapons industry by the time of the Sassanid empire, under the Persians, long before the Caliphate.
The term Damascene has been used to describe many other forms of decoration.
This photo I took at the Hassan Mosque in Cairo. This is a small detail of a door which was made in the 1300's. The door was about twelve foot tall . The door is made of cedar, sheathed in bronze. The entire door was engraved with overlays of Gold and Silver. The small detail at the bottom is about the size of a half dollar, and is Damascened.http://www.touregypt.net/featurestor...ssanmosque.htm

Hi Ron,
In pic # 10 you can see where I chiseled it some with a flatback. After that I punch it some with a rounded punch, blend with some steel wool, then I stipple and bulino it a little to finish up.

This is definitely a case where a photo is worth more than a thousand words. You've managed to enrich us wannabes many times over with this tutorial, and I am grateful. The excellent photos answered many questions I didn't even know to ask.

Great work Barry! Was the sheep form a little bit puffed up before you punched or chased in the details. Was there still a little air behind the gold as you worked in the details or does the gold sink and lock into the cross hatch patter below? I know .010" is pretty thin with not much room to sculpt and it looks fairly dimensional. I'm curious if the horns are a little sculpted or textural as they look or is that a photo illusion?
Thanks,
James Roettger

Karl,Tezah,J,thanks for the comments, the gold is fully punched down before I start sculpting. And the horns are sculpted also with a flatback. Then it is punched up and stipples a bit. As the hobo engravers know, .005 can leave a lot of room for sculpting

Newbie question Mr Hands.
You've cut the outline and raised a burr, got that, but have you left the metal inside as is, no removing, and just proceeded to the cross cutting to grab the gold? Ok- not totally up with lingo but hope it makes sense. So this gives more volume to the sheep, helps to make it stand proud of the metal?

WOW great work! Very inspiring, I cant wait to get started doing this kind of work once I get pinpointed all the tools needed. I've been doing gunstocks for a few years and now want to include this kind of art work.